Earhart shines in featured role for Bulldogs

By SKIP LEON Skip.Leon@hearstnp.com

Published 1:16 pm, Thursday, March 31, 2016

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

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Plainview senior Ethan Earhart throws a pitch during a game this season. The southpaw has been dominant on the mound for the Bulldogs. He is 5-0 with a 0.73 earned-run average. He has allowed just 12 hits in 30 innings pitched and has struck out 43. He has a no-hitter, a one-hitter and a two-hitter. less

Plainview senior Ethan Earhart throws a pitch during a game this season. The southpaw has been dominant on the mound for the Bulldogs. He is 5-0 with a 0.73 earned-run average. He has allowed just 12 hits in 30 ... more

Photo: Skip Leon/Plainview Herald

Earhart shines in featured role for Bulldogs

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On a Plainview baseball team hit hard by graduation, Ethan Earhart knew he had a chance to shine in the spotlight this season.

So far, the light he’s put forth is blinding.

Earhart, a senior left-handed pitcher, has been virtually unhittable this year. He sports a 5-0 record. In 30 innings, he’s allowed just 12 hits and three earned runs for a 0.73 earned-run average. He has walked 10 and struck out 43. His victories include a no-hitter, and a one-hitter in which he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.

In his last two games, both District 4-5A shutout wins, he has surrendered just three hits in 13 innings and has struck out 23 while walking just three batters.

Last season, Earhart was an all-district first team pitcher. So was his teammate, Paxstyn Oldfield, who was considered the ace of the staff. Another pitcher for the Bulldogs was Brent Silvas, who was voted the district’s Most Valuable Player. That duo, along with many other teammates, graduated from a team that went three rounds deep into the playoffs.

This year, it’s Earhart’s turn to be the main attraction. And he’s responded.

“We had some holes to fill,” Earhart said before practice Thursday afternoon. “And naturally, everybody looked up to me to fill that role. I kind of jumped in with both feet. I didn’t feel any pressure. I didn’t take a lot of that pressure on. I just kind of embraced it and kind of flourished in it.”

Coach Jimmy Webster spoke about the difference between last season and this year for Earhart.

“He’s gained some confidence, a little more arm strength,” Webster said. “The biggest thing is he knows he’s needed now. He knows he’s one of the horses now. He’s not behind anybody. He’s filled that role that was vacated when Paxstyn left. And now he knows it’s his turn.”

Earhart has been dominating throughout much of the year. But, he said, a key to his success has been the play of the Bulldogs’ defense behind him.

“It’s definitely a boost for my confidence,” Earhart said of his early-season success. “But more than anything, I’ve had a team behind me playing really well. When you have guys behind you making plays like we have - against Lubbock High we had to make some really key plays to keep that no-hitter going for seven innings.

“When you have guys behind you, it makes the game easier. You just know you can rely on them to make plays in the field. So, it takes pressure off you knowing you’ve just got to go up there and throw the ball.”

Webster said Earhart is capable of throwing three pitches for strikes, which makes it tough on hitters. He also throws the ball harder than he did last year.

“He’s got a little velocity,” Webster said. “He’s not overpowering, but he’s got enough velocity that he can strike out some people. He’s got good movement on his fastball now. He can throw his curve and (changeup) for strikes. That just keeps people off balance.”

And when his control is pinpoint, Earhart is a very difficult pitcher for batters to face.

“When he does that (spot the ball) as well, then he’s in total command,” Webster said. “When you throw three pitches for strikes where you want them, you’re going to see good results. And that’s what he’s been doing the last three games.”

Earhart began playing baseball at a young age. He started playing organized baseball in Little League in the fifth or sixth grade, he said. And he played on travel teams, first one that was based in Plainview and then one that was based in Lubbock.

Earhart said he was always the smallest player on the team. Of course, he was playing up a division, so his teammates and opponents all were two years older than him. He played first base and didn’t really have any desire to pitch.

“I was always the smallest guy on the team,” Earhart said. “I wasn’t athletically exceptional or anything. I wasn’t physically dominant or anything like that. I kind of just hid over at first base until high school.”

And he was content with that.

“I was happy to sit over there at first base and let somebody else take the pressure on the mound,” he said. “I was always kind of nervous to step on the mound when I was younger. Not too much, anymore,” he added with a laugh.”

Now, Earhart makes opposing batters nervous.

He said he didn’t begin to pitch until he was in the eighth grade. But it wasn’t until he got to the high school and began working with Webster that he really learned to pitch.

As a sophomore Earhart played mostly centerfield on the varsity. He pitched in a few games in tournaments when the heavy schedule dictated that a team needs more than two or three pitchers.

When both Webster and Earhart were asked what the impetus was for him to begin pitching, they gave different reasons.

“I think Webster gave me a chance because I was a left-hander,” Earhart said. “He’s big on his lefties. Sophomore year, I didn’t throw very hard. And so I had to work on everything else about the game, hitting your spots, your offspeed pitches.”

Webster saw more than simply a southpaw for his rotation. He saw an athlete that possessed the physical tools and the determination to potentially grow into a top-notch hurler. And this year, Earhart is fulfilling that promise.

“He’s left handed,” Webster said, when asked what he saw in Earhart that made him think he might be a good pitcher. “He competes well. He prepares well. He works really hard in the offseason to give himself a chance. And all of those things added up means, after a three-year period of time, he’s going to get better and better and better and you’ll see incremental jumps. And I think that’s where he is right now.

“If you work as hard as he’s worked, then you’re going to get better. Of course, he’s got some God-given talent, too. But when you match that with strong character and work ethic, then you’re going to improve. And he’s made those improvements.”

Earhart said he’s not overthinking his pitching this year. He’s just going out day-in and day-out and doing what he enjoys.

“This year I just go out on the mound and I don’t feel like there’s any pressure on me,” he said. “I just have fun and take everything I’ve learned over the past three years and apply it. I’m not over-focused on mechanics, worrying about that. I’ve got everything together and I’m just going out and having fun, just throwing the ball.”

The accomplishments are piling up for Earhart, but he’s not really thinking about them much. He’s too busy preparing for the next game, which happens to be a battle with No. 8-ranked Lubbock Cooper at Bulldog Field today at 5 p.m.

“You just go out there with a plan,” he said. “And things just started happening and all of a sudden you realize, ‘Hey, I’m throwing a couple of good games together.’ Things get rolling and you kind of get caught up in the heat of the season and you don’t dwell too much on individual performances. But when you look back you go, ‘Hey, I’ve been throwing pretty well.’”

Any batter who has had to face Earhart this season knows just how well he’s been throwing. Today, Lubbock Cooper will have the chance to find out.